Concept for energy-autarkic, autonomous climbing robots

Abstract

In order to build fully autarkic climbing robots, the energy consumption is of great importance. While the energy needed for locomotion is dictated by accelerating masses, the energy needed for adhesion depends on the design of the robot. Passive suction cups are a promising approach here because they are low cost, simple and robust and allow a light-weight construction of climbing robots. But in order to construct a proper system, the behaviour of passive suction cups has to be understood. This concerns the analysis of holding forces versus pressing forces as well as forces to pull the strap. Another important aspect is the height change of a suction cup caused by pulling forces. This introduces elasticity into the system in a non-linear manner. Out of this, some design considerations are derived for climbing robots with passive suction cups which are a step towards energy-autarkic climbers. © 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.